This is Part 2 of my post from our family spring break in Charleston because a blog post dedicated to the food and restaurants in Charleston.

As I mentioned in my previous post on our trip to Charleston, we stayed at the Homewood Suites Charleston Historic District because it is near all the restaurants I wanted to try. Please keep in mind that we had free breakfast at the hotel so most of the places I’m sharing here where we had dinner, which was very early. Another thing about most of the restaurants around this area do not serve lunch.

Felix Cocktails et Cuisine

We went to Felix Cocktails et Cuisine the first night we were in Charleston (actually about a few hours after we landed because we were so hungry). We walked down the street on a Monday evening, peeked in, looked at the menu (French food!) and then asked if they had any availability. Thank goodness they did! Because it was such a great introduction to Charleston. We ordered the Lyonnaise salad, crab croquettes, steak frites, and chicken gnocchi, which were all delicious!

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The restaurant does not high chairs or a kids menu but the hospitality from the staff more than made up for it. They were very accommodating and understanding, which made for a memorable first dining experience in Charleston.

Cuisine – French. Stand-out dish – Chicken Gnocchi. Kids menu – No. Kid-friendly – No but the staff is very nice and accommodating!

Callie’s Hot Biscuit

The next morning, we skipped breakfast at the hotel and headed right to Callie’s Hot Biscuits, where the line to order was out the door. We waited in line for about 20 minutes and another 10 minutes for our food. The biscuits were perfectly baked! I loved the biscuit with the pimento cheese. There really isn’t much room to eat at Callie’s so we took our hot biscuits and coffee and ate on a bench at Marion Square down the street.

Tip – if you don’t want to wait in line is to order online (on their site) and pick up. We did that a few days later and it was much more convenient!

Cuisine – American (Southern). Kids menu – No but what kid doesn’t like biscuits?. Kid-friendly – the space is very small so not suitable for family dining.

Darling Oyster Bar

Before going to Charleston, I had my eye on eating at the Darling Oyster Bar, because of the pictures of the restaurant that I saw on Instagram. So I made reservations for a 5:00 pm dinner the second night we were in Charleston. The restaurant was busy on a Tuesday night and it was nice to see a lot of families eating there too (I like to call the 5:00 pm dinner the “family happy hour”). I ordered the shrimp grits (no eggs) and it was delicious. Charlie got a fish dish and licked it clean.

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Cuisine – Seafood. Stand-out dish – Shrimp & Grits. Kids menu – Yes. Kid-friendly – Yes with high chairs.

La Patissierie at the Hotel Bennett

Being a huge Francophile, I wanted to have breakfast or lunch at La Patisserie, located at the new Hotel Bennett. The patissierie is very casual and spacious, which was great for our double stroller and eating with kids. It reminded me of a cute little place in Paris and I loved that it wasn’t too busy. The wait for the food was not long as most of the sandwiches and pastries are pre-made.

Cuisine – French bakery. Kids menu – No but the pastries and sandwiches are perfect for kids. Kid-friendly – Yes but no high chairs.

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Parcel 32

What can I say about Parcel 32? It’s a beautiful restaurant with so many photo opportunities but besides that…the food was so good. In fact, Luke said it was the best kids cheeseburger he’s ever had. He still talks about the cheeseburger from Charleston. We ordered the hush puppies with the pimento cheese and I wanted to order more! Charlie ordered the Fish dish and loved it and I ordered the duck, which was cooked to perfection.

And can we talk about the beautiful entry way to the restaurant? Yes, we took tons of pictures in front before they opened and before we went inside for dinner.

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I went upstairs to check out the cocktail lounge. The space is more for adults but so pretty. If I ever go back to Charleston on a girls trip, I’m picking the parlor upstairs for happy hour!

Cuisine – American. Stand-out dish: the hush puppies. Kids menu – Yes. Kid-friendly – Yes with high chairs.

The Ordinary

The Ordinary is not an “ordinary” restaurant. It’s an old bank converted into a restaurant. We at ate The Ordinary on our last night. We didn’t make reservations to eat there but they accommodated us and sat us in the patio at the side of the restaurant, which actually worked out because it was a nice evening and we were in the company with other families with young kids. We overheard a waitress when she walked out and said it looked like a playground. But we didn’t mind. It made us feel more comfortable to be a part of the madness of eating out with kids.

We ordered the Hawaiian rolls, oyster sliders (I’m still dreaming about it), Charlie ordered the seafood gumbo, which was the special of the day, and I don’t remember what I ordered. I just wanted more of the crispy oyster sliders!

Cuisine – Seafood. Stand-out dish – Crispy oyster sliders. Kids menu – No. Kid-friendly – Yes with highchairs.

Sugar Bakeshop

On our last morning in Charleston, we walked over to the Sugar Bakeshop for some coffee and cupcakes. It’s such a charming little shop that we decided to sit out front and enjoy our sweet breakfast.

Other Notable Places In Charleston

We had drinks and pimento cheese and crackers (are you seeing a theme with pimento cheese on this post?) at the Mills House Hotel one afternoon in their courtyard. It was a great break from all the walking.

We went to Raw 167 after a recommendation that they had the best lobster rolls. The place is very small so we didn’t eat inside. We decided to order take out. I should’ve checked the menu because the lobster roll was $27!! I ordered two and almost cried when I saw the bill. There are definitely other things on the menu that looked good and less expensive. The lobster rolls were good but we should’ve only ordered one and ordered something else like the oyster poboy for fish tacos. I guess we’ll save that for our next trip to the Queen City!

I used Eater Charleston for some of these choices. It’s a great resource. If there is an Eater publication in a city you’re visiting, I highly recommend checking out the respective Eater city’s site.